Wise statue goes ahead

A statue of Ernie Wise is to be built in his home town of Morley, West Yorkshire, ten years after his death.

Local fans had applied for lottery funding for a £38,000 bronze statue, but it was rejected earlier this year. Now a stone version will be created, after Wise's widow Doreen agreed to fund the project.

Sculptor Melanie Wilks said: ‘I am absolutely over the moon, I am so excited about it now that it's going to happen.’

Wilks told the Yorkshire Evening Post: ‘I'm really excited to get started. Eric Morecambe has obviously had his statue for a long time, so now it's time for Ernie to have his tribute, too.

‘Ernie considered himself not just one half of Morecambe and Wise, but a song and dance man. The sculpture will show him in that mode, as a performer in his own right.

Work will begin in the new year, once Doreen has approved the design, and it should be finished by June.

Wilks told the Yorkshire Evening Post: ‘I'm really excited to get started. Eric Morecambe has obviously had his statue for a long time, so now it's time for Ernie to have his tribute, too.

‘Ernie considered himself not just one half of Morecambe and Wise, but a song and dance man. The sculpture will show him in that mode, as a performer in his own right.

Ernie Wise died in 21 March 1999, at the age of 73, three months before the statue of Eric Morecambe by Graham Ibbeson was unveiled on the Morecambe seafront.

Published: 15 Dec 2008